ED:hotels Italy
- Thread starter kriss
- Start date
Continuing my ED trip suggestions:
Venice - Florence (Firenze):
The trip from Venice to Florence should take about 3.5 - 5 hours, depending on traffic. There is a 2 lane road that runs parallel, on east side, to the AutoStrade coming out of Venice. It will take a bit longer, but this is a more scenic, rural route, going thru farmland and small towns.
Traffic gets heavier as you get near Florence. Florence is not right on the AutoStrade, it's maybe 15 km off the AutoStrade. You probably want to avoid driving in Florence as much as possible. The streets are very narrow, not well marked, and Mopeds are buzzing around everywhere. As I mentioned in my previous post, you will find that there are not many 4 person rooms available in Europe. I stayed at the Hotel Park Palace, http://www.parkpalace.com . They have rooms that will sleep 4. The hotel is in the hills overlooking Florence, the view from the 3rd floor room with the balcony is spectacular. I have some pix that I will post. The proprietors are very friendly and helpful, speaking perfect English. The hotel furnishings are somewhat dated, and could use modernizing, but it is very clean and neat. They have parking room at no charge, and the bus stops on the Piazzale Galileo just in front of the hotel. It's about a 10 minute ride to downtown.
The Uffizzi Museum and the Statue of David are must see items in Firenze. TIP: Call ahead at least 3 weeks ahead of time for tickets to guarantee an entry time at Uffizzi. Search on the Web and call the Museum directly. Don't use one of the services you will find on the web! Tickets are around Euro 8 direct, the services get 15 - 20 euros, and all they do is call the museum for you.
Gasoline: In all of Germany, Austria and Italy, gasoline is readily available but expensive by our standards. All of the stations I stopped at take credit cards. You will see alot of stations in Italy by the name of AGIP. BMW will tell you to use premium, but in Italy, it was not as easy to find premium. Don't worry about it. Just make sure you DON'T accidently get diesel!
The Marriott Airport is right at the Airport, it is about a 25 - 30 minute ride to BMW. It will cost you about Euro 40 for a taxi ride. I think it is a fixed fare ride from the airport to Munich. Taxis are frequently Mercedes, BMW, Volvo! The Holiday Inn I mentioned in my previous post is closer to BMW and has (or had) a 30 day advance booking Internet Only rate that was around Euro 70 a night for a 4 person room. That price is hard to beat.
Venice - Florence (Firenze):
The trip from Venice to Florence should take about 3.5 - 5 hours, depending on traffic. There is a 2 lane road that runs parallel, on east side, to the AutoStrade coming out of Venice. It will take a bit longer, but this is a more scenic, rural route, going thru farmland and small towns.
Traffic gets heavier as you get near Florence. Florence is not right on the AutoStrade, it's maybe 15 km off the AutoStrade. You probably want to avoid driving in Florence as much as possible. The streets are very narrow, not well marked, and Mopeds are buzzing around everywhere. As I mentioned in my previous post, you will find that there are not many 4 person rooms available in Europe. I stayed at the Hotel Park Palace, http://www.parkpalace.com . They have rooms that will sleep 4. The hotel is in the hills overlooking Florence, the view from the 3rd floor room with the balcony is spectacular. I have some pix that I will post. The proprietors are very friendly and helpful, speaking perfect English. The hotel furnishings are somewhat dated, and could use modernizing, but it is very clean and neat. They have parking room at no charge, and the bus stops on the Piazzale Galileo just in front of the hotel. It's about a 10 minute ride to downtown.
The Uffizzi Museum and the Statue of David are must see items in Firenze. TIP: Call ahead at least 3 weeks ahead of time for tickets to guarantee an entry time at Uffizzi. Search on the Web and call the Museum directly. Don't use one of the services you will find on the web! Tickets are around Euro 8 direct, the services get 15 - 20 euros, and all they do is call the museum for you.
Gasoline: In all of Germany, Austria and Italy, gasoline is readily available but expensive by our standards. All of the stations I stopped at take credit cards. You will see alot of stations in Italy by the name of AGIP. BMW will tell you to use premium, but in Italy, it was not as easy to find premium. Don't worry about it. Just make sure you DON'T accidently get diesel!
The Marriott Airport is right at the Airport, it is about a 25 - 30 minute ride to BMW. It will cost you about Euro 40 for a taxi ride. I think it is a fixed fare ride from the airport to Munich. Taxis are frequently Mercedes, BMW, Volvo! The Holiday Inn I mentioned in my previous post is closer to BMW and has (or had) a 30 day advance booking Internet Only rate that was around Euro 70 a night for a 4 person room. That price is hard to beat.